Aya Traore had 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds and Erin Lawless scored a season-best 19 points to help Purdue beat Missouri State 73-52 in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament Sunday.

Fourth-seeded Purdue (25-6) trailed by 10 points in the first half, but the Boilermakers led by as many as 23 in the second.

Missouri State (17-15) had a losing record before winning four straight in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on their home court, but the 13th-seeded Lady Bears couldn’t overcome Purdue’s athleticism and depth. Purdue outrebounded the Lady Bears 25-11 in the second half.

UCLA 74, BOWLING GREEN 61

Two weeks after claiming their first Pac-10 Tournament title, the fifth-seeded Bruins (21-10) finally ended their postseason misery with their first NCAA win since beating Colorado State in the 1999 regional semifinals.

Bowling Green (28-3) entered the tournament with a 19-game winning streak, tied with Ohio State for the nation’s second-longest.

BOSTON COLLEGE 78,

NOTRE DAME 61

Playing for the first time in 17 days, No. 8 seed Boston College (20-11) outrebounded the Irish 42-31, outscored them 29-10 from the free-throw line and held their former Big East rival to 34 percent shooting to snap a five-game losing streak.

Notre Dame (18-12) fell to 0-8 at Mackey Arena.

At Trenton, N.J.

Danielle Hood scored 20 points and outplayed Atlantic 10 player of the year Candice Dupree as Hartford upset sixth- seeded Temple 64-58 in the first round of the Bridgeport Regional on Sunday.

Ikea Witt added 17 points for the Hawks, including two free throws with 11 seconds left to help seal the victory.

Hartford (27-3), the America East tournament champion, has won 21 of its past 22 games and won its first NCAA Tournament game in three tries under coach Jen Rizzotti, a former national player of the year at Connecticut.

With the game tied at 58 with 2:12 left, Witt made both ends of a one-and-one to give Hartford a two-point lead.

Dupree missed a left-handed hook shot, but Hood missed an open jumper on the Hawks’ next possession. Dupree missed again, and Hartford’s Erica Beverly cut down the lane, received a pass and banked in a shot with 34 seconds left to give Hartford a 62-58 lead.

GEORGIA 75, MARIST 60

Tasha Humphrey scored 23 points and Sherill Baker added 23 points and nine steals as the third-seeded Bulldogs advanced to the second round for the 11th time in 12 years with a win over Marist (23-7).

RUTGERS 63, DARTMOUTH 58

Rutgers (26-4) scored the first 13 points of the game, then had to beat back a second-half rally by the Big Green (23-7) in the first round of the Cleveland Regional.

At State College, PA.

St. John’s guard Kia Wright had 26 points as resurgent St. John’s won its first NCAA Tournament game in 18 years with a 78-68 first-round victory over California on Sunday.

St. John’s, the seventh seed in the Albuquerque Regional, pulled away from 10th-seed Cal in the second half.

Freshman Alexis Gray-Lawson cut the lead to 72-66 with about a minute left, but Wright followed with two free throws and Tara Walker hit a layup off a steal to seal the game.

A putback by Walker gave the Red Storm a 21-20 lead with about 3:30 left in the first half, its first advantage in nearly 15 minutes. Wright then hit a layup, and Monique McLean hit an open 3-pointer to help St. John’s build a 32-27 halftime lead.

Wright was a force all over the court. She hit a deep 3-pointer early in the second half to extend the lead to eight. Later, Wright tipped away a backcourt pass, then sped alone to the basket on the break to give St. John’s a 14-point lead with slightly less than 12 minutes left in the game.

LaToya Bond led Missouri (21-10) with 13 points but shot just 3-of-14 from the field.

At Norfolk, VA.

Candace Parker of Tennessee (29-4) slam-dunked her way into NCAA history with a feat that even fans of underdog Army had to appreciate.

The 6-foot-4 Parker became the first woman to dunk in an NCAA Tournament game Sunday, jamming one-handed on a breakaway just 6:12 into the second-seeded Lady Vols’ 102-54 victory against a Black Knights team that was making its NCAA Tournament debut.

Then, for good measure, Parker ensured her place in history by becoming the first to do it twice in a college game with another one-hander on the baseline. She finished with 26 points, five rebounds and seven assists.

Parker became the fourth woman in college history to dunk in a game, joining Georgeann Wells of West Virginia (twice in 1984), Charlotte Smith of North Carolina (1994) and Michelle Snow of Tennessee, who did it three times in the 2000-01 season.

GEORGE WASHINGTON 87,

OLD DOMINION 72

Sarah-Jo Lawrence scored 20 points and the Colonials (23-8) held off a desperate rally by the host Lady Monarchs.

The loss was the fifth in a row in the tournament for 10th-seeded Old Dominion (21-9), and marked the second time it couldn’t end the skid with the first round at the Constant Convocation Center.

DUKE 96, SOUTHERN 27

Monique Currie scored 19 points to lead the top-seeded Blue Devils (27-3) and No. 16 seed Southern (20-11) set a tournament record for futility with its point total, breaking the mark of 29 set by Long Island against Connecticut in 2001.

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